Third Time Around
by BloodRaevynn
Summary: In the year 2000 AD, the Sailor Soldiers were killed by Jadeite. 30 years later, Serena's nieces, Sarah and Amanda, become the new Sailor Moon and Sailor V and must face a new threat...and old secrets...
1. Introduction

Third Time Around  
  
Introduction  
  
This wasn't supposed to happen.  
  
A fact they had all stated repeatedly from the very beginning. A fact which Luna and Artemis still agreed on long after it was over.  
  
Jadeite had been awakened from his Eternal Sleep by the fallout of the destruction of Beryl and the Negaforce. He'd spent the time since then, gathering and training the remaining Negaverse monsters, and finally, he attacked en force.  
  
Tuxedo Mask had been killed in the third battle, but since Sailor Chibi-Moon had not been erased from the timeline, everyone naturally assumed that he'd come back eventually, like every other time before that.  
  
Then Sailor Moon was killed, along with Sailor Jupiter. Rei and Mina insisted that Rini would probably bring everyone back and everything would be fine, because otherwise Rini would have disappeared. Everyone was satisfied with that answer, except Amy, who muttered something about Alternate Timelines, and then wisely decided to keep her mouth shut.  
  
Sailor Venus and Sailor Neptune were killed in the next battle, and the remaining Sailors decided to go to the source, they took out Jadeite, but only Sailor Chibi-Moon and Sailor Pluto remained, along with the cats.  
  
Sailor Pluto left, and took Rini with her.  
  
Greg was devastated, he had a vision that he would be hit by car and killed. Greg was always right.  
  
Chad had left the temple, to hook up with his old band, but Rei's grandfather's failing health had brought him back to look after him, seeing as he was the closest thing to family that the old man had. When he died, Rei's Grandfather left the temple to Chad. Chad eventually met a woman named Carol and married her, and they had two daughters, Zoë and Ruth, and a son, Jason.  
  
Molly married Melvin, who became a biology professor, but six years later Molly's ability to attract monsters was the death of her.  
  
After a few years of "on-again off-again" dating, Sammy eventually married Mika, and they had three daughters; Krista, and the twins Sarah and Amanda.  
  
The Earth's dimensional fabric began to fall apart, and attacks from realities similar to the Negaverse began occurring more frequently, fortunately, they were completely random, and there was no evil plot behind any of the attacks. The UN expended a lot of time, money, and resources to deal with the threats, but they weren't exactly equipped to handle Magic-Based creatures. Fortunately, the world leaders were too busy concentrating on the Other-Dimensional Beings to fight amongst themselves, and not all of the "ODBs" were hostile.  
  
The constant drain on resources, prevented technology from advancing as much as it should have, but there were still some major breakthroughs: Solar and Hydrogen powered vehicles were now the majority; but big rigs, construction equipment, airplanes, and helicopters, used other fuels.  
  
Internet-based everything got better. People could chat face to face over the Internet. Internet Video quality was so good that television was obsolete, you could watch a show or movie on the computer on demand, or, if you wanted a bigger image, just plug your computer into a Video Screen. Of course movie theaters, having a special charm, were never obsolete.  
  
Luna and Artemis grew closer together, but they never started a family. They constantly wondered what had happened, but they talked about it less and less frequently.  
  
All of the Magical Items which belonged to the Inner Sailor Soldiers returned to Luna's pocket dimension once their owners died, with the exception of the Silver Crystal, waiting for the time that they would be called forth once again... 


	2. Prologue

Third Time Around  
  
Prologue  
  
2021 AD  
  
"Mommy! Come see the cute kitty-cat!"  
  
`Oh no, not again!' Luna thought, desperately scanning the park for a route of escape. She had spent the last twenty-one years wallowing in her failures and dodging over-energetic children who wanted to pet her, mangle her, or take her home. She was prepared to run like hell, when a somewhat familiar voice reached her ears.  
  
"What is it Nal?" A green-skinned woman with light blue streaked pink hair came over to the two green skinned purple haired five-year-olds.  
  
Since the alliances with the friendly Other Dimensional Beings, thirteen years earlier, people with unusual skin colors had become common enough not to turn heads, but Luna recognized this woman.  
  
"Luna?" The woman asked, surprised.  
  
"Ann?" Luna asked.  
  
"It talks!" Nal squealed, excitedly.  
  
"Can we keep it?" The other girl asked.  
  
"Teya, Luna is an old friend of mine, not a pet," Ann said.  
  
"Well, someone seems to have selective memory!" Luna exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Alan and I thought it might be a good idea to send the girls to school, rather than educate them ourselves." Ann explained. "So where are Darien and Serena and the others, I imagine they have rugrats of their own by now." Luna winced and sat down; even after all these years thinking about them was almost as painful as a physical blow.  
  
"They were killed," she hung her head in shame. "Twenty-one years ago."  
  
"Oh, Luna," Ann said, kneeling beside the cat. "I'm so sorry."  
  
"I still have Artemis, at least," Luna said. "He's been a great comfort to me, even if he is annoying."  
  
"Mommy?" Nal whined. "I wanna get some ice cream!"  
  
"Ah, the joys of motherhood," Ann said, getting up and taking her daughters' hands. "Look, if you and Artemis ever need someplace to stay..."  
  
"Thank you, Ann," Luna said. "But that won't be necessary."  
  
"I hope I'll see you and Artemis around," Ann said.  
  
2022 AD  
  
"Sarah!" Mika Tsukino called. "What are you doing in there?"  
  
"Nothing!" Sarah grinned at her reflection in the mirror. Now no one would make fun of her hair anymore!  
  
"Sarah! Unlock this door!"  
  
"Okay!" Sarah put down the scissors and opened the door.  
  
"Good heavens!" Mika exclaimed. "Sarah, what have you done to your hair?"  
  
"I cut it!" Sarah said. "Now no one will call me names anymore!" Mika sighed.  
  
"Come here, Sarah," she said. "I'll even it out for you."  
  
"'Kay!" Sarah obediently stood in front of her mom. "Mom?"  
  
"Yes, Sarah?" Mika asked, looking at the pile of hair that Sarah had left on the floor; oh well, it would grow back.  
  
"Me an' Amanda want to take gymnastics!"  
  
"That's nice," Mika said. "Why?"  
  
"'Cause," Sarah said. "Ruth is gonna take gymnastics; and Luna said we should too."  
  
"I'll think about it," she sighed. Sarah and Amanda kept insisting that they had talking cats. Mika wondered what had possessed her husband to let the girls keep the two cats who had shown up at the front door a month ago, she knew that Sam didn't particularly like cats, and Luna and Artemis weren't even kittens. Still, the girls did seem to love the cats a lot. Well, Sarah and Amanda did at least, Krista was indifferent to them; Krista was indifferent to a lot of things.  
  
2023 AD  
  
Alexander Black wandered along the beach, trying to find the source of the music that had been plaguing him for the past hour. He knew that he'd heard that tune before, but he couldn't remember where; faded images of a young woman in white flitted through his head, he knew that she was very beautiful, but he couldn't remember what her face looked like.  
  
He was so caught up in his reverie that he almost didn't see the sunlight glinting off a piece of gold metal. The music seemed to be coming from that direction, so he went over to it. He bent down and picked up the half-buried Star Locket, it was open and quietly playing the melody that he had been hearing; he shut the locket and the music stopped. It didn't occur to him that there was no way that he could have heard the locket all the way down the beach.  
  
"Alex!" Alex looked up and saw a seven-year-old girl with bluish hair running towards him. "Alex! Whatcha got there?" The girl stopped in front of her older brother and looked up at him cutely. "Can I see?"  
  
"Sure, Jenny." Alex held out the locket for his sister to see.  
  
"Oh! Pretty! Can I have it Alex? Please?" Normally, Alex would have given it to her without a second thought, but for some reason he felt very possessive of the locket.  
  
"No," Alex said. He saw the hurt look on his sister's face. "You can borrow it sometimes though, okay?" Jenny grinned.  
  
"Okay! Let's go show `Zekiel!" Jenny grabbed Alex's hand and dragged him down the beach to show their older half-brother the locket. 


	3. Chapter 1

Third Time Around  
  
Chapter 1  
  
6/27/2030  
  
5:35 PM  
  
Regional Gymnastics Competition  
  
Each step, flip, and leap was executed with perfect precision, the gymnast landed neatly in the corner of the mat, then did a series of back handsprings and ended in the center of the mat, knees tight, hands upraised.  
  
`I hope the judges were impressed.' She thought, as she bowed to the judges and waved at the audience, with a self assured smile. She sighed as she left the mat.  
  
"You were really good, Sarah!" A red haired girl exclaimed.  
  
"Thanks, Ruth!" Sarah said, running her fingers through her short blonde hair. "You up next?"  
  
"No, I'm after Gwen." Ruth played with the end of one of her braids nervously.  
  
"I'm sure you'll do fine, Ruth." Sarah said, sitting down on the bench beside her best friend. She sighed. "I wish I'd brought a snack, I'm starved!"  
  
"We can get ice cream after the competition." Ruth said.  
  
"Great!" Sarah exclaimed, then her face fell. "Oh, no. I have to meet Amanda and Jennifer at the mall, Jenny's brother's giving us a ride home."  
  
"Why don't you stay the night at my house?" Ruth asked.  
  
"I can't, my Mom's taking me and Amanda and Krista shopping in the morning." Sarah explained. "Besides, that temple of yours really gives me the creeps."  
  
"Why?" Ruth asked. "It's a nice place."  
  
"I just always have a really creepy feeling that I've been there before." Sarah said. "I mean, other than the times that I've actually been there."  
  
"That's weird!" Ruth agreed.  
  
"Sarah, Ruth, you need to quiet down!"  
  
"Sorry, Coach." Sarah and Ruth said in unison.  
  
6:00 PM  
  
The Granger's Apartment  
  
Ann sighed. She typed on the keyboard, adding lines of code to the program she was writing. This was one of the most complex programs that she had ever worked on; Luna's specifications were very demanding. It was extremely difficult to translate the Silver Millennium's programming language into one that was compatible with twenty-first century computers. She'd been working on this for three years, and there were still loads of bugs in it, but at least it was finally usable.  
  
Ann and Alan had been understandably surprised when Luna and Artemis had informed them that the Sailor Soldiers had been reincarnated. Then Luna asked them to help train Sailor Moon and Sailor V.  
  
So now Ann was in the process of working on training scenarios, while Alan was setting up training grounds. Ann had had a difficult time keeping Teya and Nal from noticing that she and Alan were up to something; Ann and Alan's daughters were notorious gossips.  
  
6:50 PM  
  
Crossroads Mall  
  
"Hey! Sorry I'm late!" Sarah ran up to two girls waiting outside a mall.  
  
"Oh, it's okay." The blonde one said. "Zeke's not here yet."  
  
"He called and said that he got caught in traffic." The girl with long, dark bluish hair said, indicating the small, blue cell phone attached to her belt. Cell Phones were very common now, Sarah and Amanda each had one; they'd gotten them for their thirteenth birthday, eight months ago, they had to pay the charges themselves though. "But you should try to be more punctual, Sarah."  
  
"I said I was sorry, Jenny." Sarah said. "The Competition went over the estimated time; one of the girls fell off the beam and landed badly, they had to take her to the ER to get her leg x-rayed."  
  
"How did you do?" Amanda asked.  
  
"Ruth got first place, and I got second!" Sarah exclaimed, excitedly. "Can you believe it? We're both going to the Nationals!"  
  
"That's great!" Amanda enthused. "It must have been all that practicing you two did last week. I'd probably be right there with you, but I just didn't have your determination to be a gymnast, I guess."  
  
Sarah and Amanda were twins, but not identical twins, Amanda was several inches taller than Sarah, her hair was lighter, and her eyes were a paler shade of blue. Plus Amanda wore her hair long; past her butt, while Sarah kept hers very short.  
  
Jennifer had long blue-black hair, which she usually braided or tied back, she was only a bit taller then Sarah. She was one of the most popular girls in school, as well as one of the smartest. Sarah was jealous, because Jenny got perfect grades, and still had the time to have a social life, while she had to struggle to maintain a C+ average.  
  
Just then, Ezekiel pulled up and they all piled into his car.  
  
Ezekiel was twenty-three years old, he had long, white hair and ice blue eyes. Zeke watched Jenny whenever her parents went out of town for a few days.  
  
Sarah's cell phone made a meowing sound.  
  
"Answer. Hello?" Sarah said into the receiver. "Oh, hi Ruth!" She listened. "I don't know, I'll ask my mom, but I have a feeling it'll be based on my study habits. `Kay, End."  
  
"Your phone meows?" Jenny asked.  
  
"Yeah! Isn't it cute?"  
  
"I think so too." Amanda said.  
  
"You also have yours play the Sailor V theme song." Jenny pointed out.  
  
"What's wrong with Sailor V?" Amanda asked. "You haven't even watched the movies or played the game!"  
  
"Who wants to play an old 2-D video game? VR is much better!"  
  
"Don't knock it `til you've tried it." Amanda said. "I bet that you can't get a higher score than me!" Jenny got the most peculiar look on her face, one that both Amanda and Sarah knew very well.  
  
"You're on!"  
  
If there was one thing that Jenny loved, it was a challenge.  
  
6/28/2030  
  
4:35 PM  
  
Crown Game Center  
  
"This has got to be an antique!" Jenny exclaimed.  
  
"It's over thirty years old." Amanda said.  
  
"And it still works? Amazing."  
  
Jenny played very well, and beat all but two of Amanda's scores.  
  
"Where's your sister, anyway? Doesn't she usually hang out here when she's done studying?"  
  
"Oh, Sarah went to the Cherry Hill Temple, to hang out with Ruth." Amanda said.  
  
4:55 PM  
  
Cherry Hill Temple  
  
Ruth was outside sweeping the walkway, she looked up happily when she saw a young woman with long blonde hair and green eyes coming up the stairs.  
  
"Hi, Zoë!" She called.  
  
"Hey, sis," The woman smiled warmly. "Are mom and dad here?"  
  
"No they're out at the moment." Then something caught Ruth's eye. "Oh! Zoë!" She rushed over and grabbed Zoë's left hand, examining the engagement ring on her sister's ring finger. "Ezekiel proposed?" Zoë nodded. "You're getting married!?!" Zoë laughed.  
  
"Don't act so surprised, Ruth, we've all been expecting it for a long time now." Zoë said. "Have you seen Jason lately? I can't wait to show him!"  
  
"He said he'd be back next week; but you know how he is, Twisted Jade will probably get another gig somewhere and it'll be a month before we hear from him again."  
  
"Hey! Ruth!" A very familiar voice called. "You here!?!" Sarah charged up the stairs, and came to a stop at the top of them, panting. "Jeez, why do there have to be so many steps?" She grumbled.  
  
"Hi, Sarah!" Ruth called. "Guess what! My sister's getting married!"  
  
"No kidding!?!" Sarah exclaimed, running across the walkway. "That is so cool!" Sarah went inside with her friend.  
  
8/25/2030  
  
6:45 PM  
  
Tsukino Residence  
  
Luna climbed through the open window into a girls room with two beds; one had several large stuffed animals on it. Sarah was lying on the bed without the stuffed animals, reading something on her laptop; from the diagrams it looked like it might be biology. `I'm so glad that she has better study habits than Serena did, I hope this is a good sign.'  
  
Sarah shut off her laptop and sat up, massaging her temples. "I hate this." She put the computer on her desk. "Studying wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't so much of it!" Sarah flopped back onto her bed, and stared at the ceiling. Luna jumped onto the bed from the windowsill. Sarah sat up and looked at the cat. "Oh, hi Luna." She lightly scratched the top of Luna's head.  
  
"How is your homework coming?" Luna asked.  
  
"I'm done for the night." Sarah said.  
  
"We need to talk, Sarah." Luna said.  
  
"What is it, Luna?" Sarah asked. "You look serious. Oh!" It suddenly occurred to Sarah what this was about. "Today?"  
  
"Yes, Sarah." Luna said. "It's time for you to accept your birthright and become this generation's Sailor Moon."  
  
Sarah and Amanda had grown up knowing that they would one day become Sailor Moon and Sailor V; and it seemed that that day was now. Even though Sarah had trained and prepared for this day, she was still surprised and nervous. She didn't know that her Aunt Serena had been the last Sailor Moon, and Luna knew that she had to tell her.  
  
Luna and Artemis had been detecting strong Negative Energy for about a year now, and just a few days ago it had suddenly started getting stronger. They had decided that it would be best for them to Activate Sailor Moon and Sailor V right away, so that they'd have time to learn a little about their powers.  
  
Luna did a double backflip, which impressed Sarah, and gold broach appeared.  
  
"Now, put it on and say: Moon Prism Power, Make-up." Luna instructed.  
  
"Okay." Sarah picked up the broach and pinned it to the front of her school uniform. "Moon Prism Power, MAKE-UP!" Sarah felt a dizzying and exciting sensation, as she was surrounded by light and transformed into Sailor Moon. When the light dissipated she was wearing the Sailor Moon uniform. "Wow! This is so cool!"  
  
"This isn't a game, Sarah." Luna said, solemnly. "There are things you need to know." Sarah looked at Luna curiously. "I told you that there was a Sailor Moon before you." Luna said. "But I never told you who she was, or what happened to her and the other Sailor Soldiers."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your Aunt, Serena, was Sailor Moon." Sarah's eyes grew wide when all of the implications of this bit of information sank in.  
  
"Then, she died because--"  
  
"She and the other Sailor Soldiers died fighting Jadeite." Luna sighed. "We all got cocky; we thought that we had indisputable proof that the Sailor Soldiers couldn't die for at least another thousand years or so. We should have listened to what Amy said about alternate timelines. It all happened so quickly, we didn't have time to regroup. Only two of them were left in the end, and we have no idea what became of them.  
  
"So don't you dare think that this is just a game!" Luna said firmly. "The danger is deadly real, but I have the utmost faith in you; you have the training that Artemis and I didn't have time to give to your Aunt, you're smarter, stronger, more athletic, and less of a wimp; plus you had the advantage of growing up knowing your destiny. It's going to be rough going, Sarah, but I know you can do this."  
  
"Did Grandma and Grandpa know about Serena?" Sarah asked.  
  
"No." Luna said. "You aren't allowed to tell anyone about this, it's too dangerous."  
  
7:30  
  
Amanda came into the room with a sort of dazed and excited expression on her face.  
  
"You too, huh?" Sarah said, looking at her sister from behind the VR headset connected to her computer. She tapped a few keys and looked at the results. "Did he tell you about Serena?" Amanda frowned and nodded sadly. Sarah tapped a few more keys and the computer beeped, signaling the successful completion of the scenario.  
  
"What's that?" Amanda asked.  
  
"Luna gave me this disk; it has a program on it, a game really, that's supposed to train me to lead the Sailor Soldiers."  
  
"Wired!" Amanda said, enthusiastically. "Can I play?"  
  
"It isn't a toy Amanda." Luna said.  
  
~*~  
  
At the edge of the solar system, far beyond Pluto, an ice crystal floated in the void, cracks covering its surface. Suddenly, the front of the ice crystal smashed open, and the being that had been trapped inside of it flew out at an incredible speed, heading straight for Earth's moon.  
  
Notes:  
  
Okay, Sarah is starting out with the same equipment that Serena had in the beginning, because my theory is that each successive transformation/attack/tool that the Sailor Soldiers get is not only stronger than the last, but also uses up more energy; therefore, since Sarah is starting from the beginning, she isn't strong enough for the more advanced equipment. It's been years since I've seen Sailor Moon, so my knowledge may be a little off; be nice. Also I'm indiscriminately mixing the English, Japanese, and Manga versions of the story.  
  
One more thing, if anyone has info about Sailor V (transformation/attacks/tools), please E-mail me; I want to be as accurate as possible. 


	4. Chapter 2

Third Time Around  
  
Chapter 2  
  
8/26/2030  
  
7:00 AM  
  
Tsukino Residence  
  
Sarah left for school the next morning, for once early enough that she didn't have to hurry. Of course, it didn't last.  
  
'Hmm, my computer bag seems a bit light today.' Sarah set it down, and opened it. "Damn!" She sighed. "I forgot my computer." Fortunately, Amanda had gotten a ride with Jenny that morning, so Sarah wouldn't have to put up with her teasing her about her forgetfulness.  
  
Sarah slung the computer bag over her shoulder, unfortunately, it slipped out of her grip.  
  
"Oof!"  
  
"Oops, sorry!" Sarah turned around to face the guy she had just knocked down with said computer bag. "Good thing my computer wasn't in there."  
  
"Figures you'd have the hair to go along with the empty head, blondie." The dark haired young man said, getting up off the ground and picking up the offending backpack. "Watch where you're throwing your stuff." He handed her the backpack.  
  
"What a jerk." She muttered. 'A cute jerk though.' She frowned, thoughtfully. 'I think I've seen him somewhere before.' Then Sarah ran back to her house.  
  
4:00 PM  
  
The Park  
  
"Let's see." Sarah said, looking at the display on her VR headset. "The monster probably can't see Sailor Mars yet, so I'll gesture for her to sneak up behind it and attack it from behind." She typed the command in.  
  
"Very good, Sarah." Luna said, looking at the text display on the computer screen. "You got it to drop the hostage."  
  
"Right." Sarah said, typing another command. "Now Sailor Mercury casts her Shabon Spray," The results of her command popped up, and she typed in the next command. "And I have Sailor Jupiter remove the civilian from the battlefield." She typed in another command. "And I finish it off with my Tiara." The computer beeped twice, signaling the end of the scenario.  
  
"Excellent." Luna congratulated Sarah. "You've been getting much better at doing these scenarios."  
  
"So when do I meet the other Sailor Soldiers?" Sarah asked.  
  
"I haven't located them yet." Luna said; which wasn't exactly true, but Luna and Artemis had decided to let Sarah discover the other Sailor Soldiers herself. "Now, don't you have Gymnastics in half an hour?"  
  
"Oh!" Sarah looked at her watch. "You're right! I completely forgot!" Luna watched Sarah run off.  
  
The training scenarios that Luna, Artemis, and Ann had come up with were based on past attacks and what they thought the Sailor Soldiers might come up against in the future. Sarah beat both the team scenarios and the solitary scenarios more and more frequently, and more efficiently. For now the program was just text and schematics, but the 3D version was almost operable.  
  
The physical training was designed like an obstacle course, going over, under and around various obstacles, while dodging attacks from Ann and Alan, and taking out practice dummies with her Tiara or physical attacks.  
  
Amanda's training was going along as smoothly, though she was mostly focusing on the physical aspect; they'd train her leadership skills when the Sailor Soldiers were assembled and Sarah found out that she was the Moon Princess.  
  
For some reason fortune was on their side and there hadn't been many attacks by ODBs in Tokyo. To Luna, this felt rather like the calm before the storm.  
  
  
  
"Lady Garnet."  
  
"Your Highness." The girl bowed respectfully. She was dressed in a deep scarlet bodice with a gold collar, deep scarlet leggings, a short, bright red skirt, and a long bright red cape with a gold collar which fastened to a large garnet, and she wore a pair of short, deep scarlet boots trimmed with gold. A gold crown with a garnet set in it shone amid her long, braided, red hair. Her bright, green eyes flashed with intelligence and confidence.  
  
"Where is the Princess, Lady?" The armored man asked.  
  
"She is waiting for you on the balcony, my Prince."  
  
"Thank you, Lady Garnet." He bowed to her and left.  
  
Lady Garnet radiated a calm confidence, as she swept through the halls of the Palace. She paused for a moment to gaze up at the Earth, shining it's bluish light on the Royal Gardens, then she continued on her way.  
  
"Lady Garnet!" A girl approached Lady Garnet, dressed in a conservative black gown and hooded cloak, the cape was fastened with a large onyx stone set in gold, and she wore a gold and onyx crown. Lady Garnet noticed that the black haired girl seemed to be rather agitated.  
  
"Lady Onyx." Garnet acknowledged the girl. "What is wrong?"  
  
"While I was meditating I detected a malevolent presence, unlike anything I have ever sensed." Onyx said. "I intercepted a psychic attack from it, I believe the attack was directed at our princess!"  
  
"You must inform Queen Serenity, immediately." Garnet said firmly. "I will attend the princess."  
  
"Of course, Lady Garnet." Onyx said, bowing to Garnet and taking her leave.  
  
  
  
As the being neared the moon it slowed; the light around it dissipating. It hovered over the ruins of the Moon Kingdom, as it landed, the rest of the light flickered out, revealing a man with golden hair, wearing white, yellow, and gold armor.  
  
He surveyed the wreckage, an impassive look on his face, unreadable emotion in his golden eyes. He looked at the Earth, a slight smile touched his lips. "Maybe I haven't failed." Light surrounded him as he floated into the sky. "I will find the Moon Princess." He streaked towards Earth.  
  
  
  
"The time is right, we must force our hand if we are to possess the Moon Princess, and her power." A gray cloaked man said.  
  
"Don't be such a fool!" Another gray cloaked figure, this one female, said. "We tried that before, and look what happened!"  
  
"What happened," Said another gray cloaked man. "Was that we put that fool in charge."  
  
"True." Said another woman. "She had no idea how to harness the forces at her disposal, she foolishly thought that she could control the true power of the Negaforce, when, in fact, she knew no more then the rudiments of our ancient religion, and therefore knew nothing of how to harness our great power."  
  
"She thought herself a goddess." The first woman said. "She could have destroyed us all with that abuse of power!"  
  
"The power of the Silver Crystal destroyed her mind; made her delusional!" A third cloaked woman protested. "She is not to blame!"  
  
"You only say this because she was your pupil." A third man said. "Admit it, she was unstable when you started training her!"  
  
"ENOUGH!" An old woman dressed in a black robe stood up from her throne. "You children will cease your petty squabbling immediately!"  
  
"Yes, Dark Mother." The six gray-robed figures said in unison.  
  
"It does us no good to fight amongst ourselves." The old woman said. "Ater is partly right, it is time to make a move. However, seizing the Princess would, as Duana said, be the move of a fool; in no small part because we have no idea who or where she is. Our first move should be locating her, it would also be a good idea to begin planting the Seeds of Chaos." She turned toward Ater. "You, Ater, will be in charge of the Chaos Seeds. Duana, you will be in charge of locating the Princess. You may use any means necessary."  
  
"Yes, Dark Mother." Ater and Duana took their leave.  
  
"Now, there is another matter to attend to." The crone said. "A presence entered the solar system, it made a brief stop at the Moon, and is currently on its way to Earth. Kala, send one of your Hordes to intercept it."  
  
"Yes, Dark Mother." The third woman said.  
  
"That will be all." The Dark Mother said. The other three left the old woman to her thoughts.  
  
  
  
The armored man noticed a dark blotch appear between himself and his objective, he frowned. The dark blotch was on him almost immediately. It was actually several creatures; with black, leathery wings, and red eyes. The armored man stopped, and floated in the void, facing the creatures with no emotion apparent on his face. He drew his sword, the golden metal blazed as if it were made of living fire, the Sunstones on the hilt lit up, as if each were holding a piece of the sun itself.  
  
He held the sword above his head, and it released a blinding flash of white light and incinerating heat.  
  
6:05 PM  
  
Sarah shrieked and covered her eyes as a blinding white light filled the sky. A wave of heat quickly followed that, raising the sixty-five degree temperature to approximately one hundred degrees in a matter of seconds; sending Sarah's equilibrium packing. She stumbled backwards and knocked into someone, sending both of them sprawling; from the sound of the "oof", that someone was male. Sarah was lying on top of him, but because of the lack of sight that both of them were experiencing, neither of them tried to remedy the situation. The blinding white light had faded away, and Sarah was gradually regaining her sight. She realized that she was clutching the shirt of the guy she was lying on in a death grip, she immediately let go and tried to get up, but the fact that her equilibrium had decided to take a quick vacation resulted in her falling back on top of him.  
  
"I'm so sorry!" Sarah yelped in embarrassment, her vision still about as blurry as if she had her eyes open underwater in a chlorine pool at twilight.  
  
"It's okay." The guy she had landed on said, in a slightly strangled voice.  
  
The nice blur sat up and gently helped Sarah to her feet. He stumbled a bit, and it was obvious that he could see no better than she could. After a couple of failed attempts at walking on both of their parts, they just clung to each other for support.  
  
"I wish the ground would stop moving." Sarah said, feeling lightheaded. "I'm feeling rather dizzy," She said shakily, clinging to him a bit more tightly. "And I'm pretty sure I'm about to pass out."  
  
"I think there's a bench around here, somewhere." The guy said.  
  
"I don't think I can make it that far." Sarah said, feeling her knees buckle slightly. He held on to her a bit more tightly.  
  
"I'm Alexander Black, by the way." He said.  
  
"Oh, I know you. You're Jenny's older brother." Sarah could barely remember what Alex looked like; she hadn't seen him in years. She groaned as another wave of dizziness set in. "Sarah Tsukino." She mumbled, fighting the unconsciousness that was trying to overwhelm her. "Whoa!" Her legs suddenly stopped supporting her weight. Alex grabbed her before she fell, and swept her into his arms, almost falling himself. "Somehow," Sarah said. "I thought that being swept off my feet would be a bit more romantic." Sarah leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, trying to fend off another wave of dizziness. She opened her eyes again and blinked a few times as her vision suddenly cleared. Alex did the same.  
  
"YOU!?!" They both shouted in unison, as they recognized each other.  
  
Then Sarah passed out.  
  
  
  
Alex really didn't know what to do. First the flash of light, then some girl knocks him over, then she turns out to be his arch-nemesis (he shuddered at the memory of all the things that had been bounced off his head, years ago and recently, courtesy of Sarah), and then she passes out.  
  
Alex checked her pulse, which was a bit fast but otherwise okay. 'She's probably just overheated.' He thought. They were right next to the Crown Game Center, which was air-conditioned, so he took her inside. There was a bench against the wall, and he sat her on it.  
  
"Oh, what happened?" A middle aged man with blond hair asked.  
  
"She passed out," Alex said. "I think she overheated."  
  
"Wow." The man muttered.  
  
"What?" Alex asked.  
  
"Huh?" The man looked at him. "Oh, she just bears a striking resemblance to this girl I used to know."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Alexander Black." Alex introduced himself.  
  
"Andrew Furuhata." The man introduced himself. "Well I'd better get your girlfriend some water."  
  
"She's not my girlfriend!" Alex said. Andrew chuckled.  
  
"That's what Darien always said." Andrew said over his shoulder as he left. Alex looked perplexed.  
  
A minute later, Andrew came back with two glasses of water, one of which he upended on Sarah's head.  
  
"Gaaaah!" Sarah screamed, sitting bolt upright. Andrew grinned and handed her the other glass. Sarah seriously considered splashing him back, but then decided that her thirst was more important. Sarah drank the water in one breath, then she glared at Andrew and Alex.  
  
"Feeling better?" Andrew asked. Sarah just glared at him full force. "Yep." He answered himself. He turned to Alex. "Alexander, why don't you help her home?" Alex shrugged.  
  
"I don't need his help!" Sarah argued, jumping to her feet, and immediately falling on her butt. Alex managed to refrain from using one of the insults that popped into his head.  
  
"Come on, Sarah." He said offering her his hand. "This has been a really weird day." She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet, and they walked out of the arcade. Meanwhile, Sarah's equilibrium came back from vacation, unpacked its bags, and settled back into it's accustomed position.  
  
  
  
A/N: I wrote this chapter after reading "Life, the Universe, and Everything" in one sitting (at least, I think that's the one, it was from that series, anyway); it shows toward the end there.  
  
The part written in italic is a dream/memory of Lady Garnet's reincarnation. Who she actually is won't be revealed 'til way later in the story (as in after chapter 13), but you'll get more information on this part in the next few chapters.  
  
I've decided not to combine chapters, at least until later. Sorry if you think that the chapters are too short, but back then 6 pages (which is what this comes out to on Microsoft Word at 11 pt. Comic Sans MS) a chapter was a stretch for me; I wouldn't consider a chapter done unless it was at least 5 pages long and I could read through it without changing anything.  
  
nina_79934 (my only reviewer thus far gives nina a cookie and everyone else an annoyed look) asked me a question about Rini (which I didn't completely understand, sorry), so I'll explain everything regarding Rini in the Intro. Get comfortable, it's a bit long and involved.  
  
If Serena and Darien are dead, Rini will never be born, thereby creating a time paradox. The assumption of the majority of the SS & Co. was that this would cause Rini to disappear, but since she didn't, Serena and Darien must somehow come back (most likely by Rini's use of the future Silver Crystal [she had that, right?]). However, the prevalent theory regarding time travel (assuming it's possible) is that if you change something in the past, that change would simply create an alternate reality (i.e. Rini wouldn't disappear, because in her timeline, Serena and Darien didn't die). Amy, naturally, would know this.  
  
I hope I answered your question, nina.  
  
Review onegai shimasu! 


	5. Chapter 3

A/N - Sorry for the long wait, I was doing research on Sailor V. If you've read the Sailor V manga please understand that I haven't, and I also missed the episode of Sailor Moon with Mina's past, so there are probably quite a few discrepancies.  
  
Any attacks that V had that relate to Sailor Venus (there were quite a few of them) will either be changed or not used at all. All her attacks will be ambiguously described, because I haven't a clue what they actually look like (but at least now I know what they are, I used to only know one of them!).  
  
If you have any information on Sailor V please, please e-mail me! Accuracy is good, accuracy is my friend (unless it interferes with my story ^_^;).  
  
Thanks to pooka and Kitty for reviewing me!  
  
  
  
Third Time Around  
  
Chapter 3  
  
8/26/2030  
  
7:00 PM  
  
Tsukino Residence  
  
"Oh, thank heavens!" Mika Tsukino said, when Sarah came in. "When that big light flashed I was so worried that you'd be hurt or—! Who are you?"  
  
"Alexander Black." Alex introduced himself. "Sarah and I sort of ran into each other when that flash happened, and I walked her home since she passed out earlier." Sarah gave him a withering look, as her mother grabbed her in a viselike embrace.  
  
"Passed out!?! Oh my poor baby!" She gushed, much to Sarah's embarrassment. "You must have been so frightened!" Krista, Sarah and Amanda's older sister, rolled her eyes and gave Sarah the "better you than me" look.  
  
"Mom!" Sarah shouted to get her mother's attention. "I'm fine, I just passed out from all the heat."  
  
"Well, Alexander, why don't you come in?" Mika invited him, letting go of Sarah, who immediately began to give Alex every universal sign for no that had ever been used in the history of the world, and a few that hadn't. He took the hint.  
  
"Thanks, no." He said. "I have to go check up on my little sister."  
  
"Well, you go on then." Carrie said. "Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome." He said, and he left.  
  
"Isn't he Jenny's brother?" Krista asked "The one who always called y—"  
  
"Don't you dare say it, Mary-Christine." Sarah said, calling her sister by her full first name; which she knew Krista hated.  
  
"What ever you say, Meatball Head." Krista grinned at her sister wickedly. "Well I'd better go tell him that Jenny's at the mall." She said, a predatory gleam in her eye. Krista had once had an enormous crush on Alex, and still did, apparently.  
  
Sarah suddenly felt very sorry for her Arch-Nemesis.  
  
7:30 PM  
  
"So what do you think it means?" Sarah asked, as she typed on her computer.  
  
"Trouble." Luna answered.  
  
"I already figured that out, Luna." Sarah growled in annoyance. "There's nothing in your scenarios that's even remotely like that."  
  
"Well how was I supposed to know something like that was going to happen?" Luna protested. "The scenarios are supposed to train you to be able to think on your feet."  
  
"Well sorry to disappoint you!" Sarah said.  
  
"You're not disappointing me," Luna said. "In fact, you're much better than Serena was."  
  
"Did Serena like being Sailor Moon?" Sarah asked, quietly. "Tell me the truth."  
  
"Sometimes she liked it." Luna said. "She really liked having fans, even if none of them knew who she really was. But most of the time…"  
  
"She didn't like it." Sarah said.  
  
"She just wanted to be a normal girl." Luna said. "She actually got her wish once. The first time they died, Serena wished to have a normal life, so everything about her being Sailor Moon was erased. But it's not something that you can walk away from, eventually she was forced to become Sailor Moon again. I doubt that you and the others would have been reborn now, if there wasn't a new threat."  
  
"So what's my mission?" Sarah asked, suddenly very businesslike.  
  
"Well right now you keep training, and after that you try to find the other Sailor Soldiers, the Silver Imperium Crystal, and the Moon Princess, while fighting whatever evil rears its ugly head."  
  
"Big job." Sarah said. Luna nodded in agreement.  
  
8:00 PM  
  
Ater materialized in an alleyway. He altered his clothing to civilian garb. His hair was red, and his eyes were dark gray. He left the alley and joined in with the crowd of pedestrians. He quickly summoned a Chaos Seed, chose a pedestrian, and threw it at her. The Chaos Seed merged into her body. Ater smiled and continued on his way. The young woman walked on, not knowing that she was now a servant of the Dark Mother.  
  
  
  
"Kala!"  
  
"Yes, Dark Mother?" The gray clad woman bowed.  
  
"You need to be more careful of the composition of your hordes, Kala." The old woman said. "I am a patient woman, but I will not tolerate continued failures. Your past failure has put you in a very precarious position."  
  
"I apologize, Dark Mother." Kala said, bowing deeply. "It will not happen again."  
  
9/1/2030  
  
3:30 PM  
  
Amanda was walking back from school with Artemis perched on her shoulder. Sarah had gotten detention for being late, again. It was getting harder and harder to wake her up in the morning; not that Amanda couldn't relate. Ever since Artemis told her that she was this generation's Sailor V, much to her enthusiasm, he had been training her relentlessly. At the end of the day she would fall into bed, completely wiped out, and her mom practically had to drag her out of bed the next morning.  
  
But as bad as Amanda was, Sarah was worse. She had once literally dragged Sarah out of bed, but all Sarah did was mutter something about punishing her in the name of the Moon, and then resumed her snoring on the floor. Amanda knew that it was only a combination of determination and sheer luck that kept her sister's grades from slipping.  
  
Another thing that Amanda had noticed was that she and Sarah had lost a good deal of body fat, and their appetites had increased dramatically, Artemis had told them that this was because using their powers burned off calories at an amazing rate. He and Luna encouraged them to eat often and a lot, especially once they started fighting for real.  
  
"Mandy! Hey, Mandy!" Jenny and a blue skinned girl came up behind Amanda. The blue girl had spoken.  
  
"Hey, Kassni, Jenny." Amanda greeted them. "What's up?"  
  
"We were going to go catch a movie." Kassni said, running a three fingered hand over the grayish spikes that served as her hair. "Wanna come?" Amanda looked over at Artemis, hopefully. He shook his head, Amanda sighed.  
  
"Sorry, can't." Amanda said. "I'm a bit behind on my studies, maybe next time."  
  
"I see." Jenny said. Raising an eyebrow. "You haven't been hanging out with us much anymore, Amanda; is something wrong?"  
  
"It's kind of personal."  
  
"We understand." Kassni said. Shooting Jenny a disapproving look. Kassni's people strongly believed in privacy. "Maybe we can hang out in the mall later today."  
  
"We'll see." Amanda said. They reached the road that Amanda took to get home. "Well, I'll see you later." She smiled.  
  
"Bye." Jenny said, and Kassni waved. They parted company.  
  
"Come on," Artemis said, as soon as Jenny and Kassni were out of sight. "We'd better go if we're going to get to the training ground in time."  
  
"Right." Amanda agreed.  
  
Amanda turned down the road which lead to the nearest bus stop, and waited for her bus. She stuffed Artemis in her backpack when she saw it coming.  
  
Amanda had been on the bus for about fifteen minutes, when she heard a loud crash and the bus driver slammed on his breaks, pitching Amanda forward so that she slammed into the back of the seat in front of her.  
  
"Owww." She moaned. She ran to the front of the bus to see what was going on. A huge black creature was making an enormous mess, throwing cars around, breaking windows, and knocking holes in walls.  
  
"What on earth!?!" Artemis said, looking at the creature. "Well, looks like the time has come for me to put all that training to good use." She pushed the lever to open the bus door, and jumped out.  
  
"Are you insane!?!" The bus driver shouted after her.  
  
"Maybe," Amanda muttered to herself. She ran to a place where she couldn't be seen and pulled out her transformation pen. "Well, here goes nothing!  
  
"Moon Power, TRANSFORM!" Light enveloped Amanda as she transformed into Sailor V.  
  
"Hey, you Creepoid!" Sailor V shouted, getting the monster's attention. "It's not nice to disturb the peace and tranquility of this town! And in—" The monster threw a car at her. She dodged. "Right, point taken, the speech stinks." She dodged a piece of sidewalk. "Crescent Beam!!!" She yelled, striking the creature with an energy beam right between the eyes. The creature fell and crumbled into dust.  
  
  
  
"Yes, Dark Mother?" Kala asked, nervously.  
  
"There is nothing to fear for now, child." The crone said. "I intended for your underling to be killed. I was testing the Earth's defenses. It seems that at least one of the Sailor Soldiers managed to escape death, or return from it at least; and, like rabbits, they have a rather annoying tendency to multiply." The old woman looked at Kala thoughtfully. "I want her destroyed, but I won't ask that of you, because I know that you'll inevitably fail." She turned and looked into the shadows to her left. "Ater, how many Chaos Seeds have you planted?"  
  
"Seven, Dark Mother." Ater said, appearing from the shadows. "Two of them are already usable, first stage only though."  
  
"Activate one of them." The old woman said. "Take the necessary time to train it, study it, and document it's potential. Kala, you will send another of your underlings to draw out the Sailor Soldier when Ater is ready to send out the Chaos Fiend." Ater and Kala bowed and took their leave.  
  
"Melani!" The crone called. The third cloaked woman appeared.  
  
"Yes, Dark Mother." She said, bowing.  
  
"Go to the edge of the solar system. You know what to look for." Melani bowed and left. 'I know it's him.' The crone thought. 'I can't let him get the Moon Princess before I do.'  
  
  
  
The golden haired man walked down a busy street, seemingly untouched by the chaos surrounding him. He looked briefly at what one would think to be a watch, but was, in reality, a gold wristband with a sunstone set in it.  
  
'Soon,' He thought. 'Soon I will find her.'  
  
  
  
Next Chapter - After Sailor V's first fight, things remain peaceful while the various sides plan their next move. Brace yourself! Everything's about to go to hell in a hand-basket! 


	6. Chapter 4

A/N: There's an interval of about a month and a half here. The Dark Mother and her children have been very busy planning and waiting for the chaos seeds to mature. Melani isn't as fast in space as the mysterious man, so she hasn't arrived at her destination yet. As for the mysterious man, he's busy establishing an identity and trying to locate certain people.  
  
Third Time Around  
  
Chapter 4  
  
  
  
10/15/2030  
  
1:00 PM  
  
  
  
'This is boring.' Sarah thought, as her teacher droned on and on and on with no end in site. The excitement of her recent birthday had long worn off; being Sailor Moon hadn't affected her life that much. All in all she was beginning to wonder if something interesting was ever going to happen.  
  
~*~  
  
"Dr. Stone?" A striking woman in her fifties, with dark green hair entered the room. "Hello, I'm Dr. Prisma Chandra."  
  
"Hello, Dr. Chandra." The young, golden haired man said.  
  
"So you'll be working on Ellen Olsen?" Dr. Chandra said. "I don't think that's wise. You have read her file, haven't you?"  
  
"Yes, I have a new treatment that might help in her case." Dr. Stone said.  
  
"I didn't know that anyone had advanced that far in telepathic suppression." Dr. Chandra said.  
  
"I won't be suppressing her abilities."  
  
"But her abilities are the reason she went insane!" Dr. Chandra objected. "She murdered her own parents with a psionic pulse! We have to use a Magical Null Field and Psycho Regulatory drugs to keep her from using her telepathy to hurt or kill someone else!"  
  
  
  
"Ellen?"  
  
"Here to give me my daily dose of drugs?" The black-haired girl turned to glare at Dr. Chandra.  
  
"No, you won't be needing those anymore." Said a male voice. Ellen's eyes widened at the gorgeous golden haired man.  
  
"Mmm. You're a nice one." She felt her hormones raging. They rarely let men into her room anymore, let alone good looking ones, after they found out about her pheromones. She waited for him to respond; and was very surprised when he didn't.  
  
He took a black stone out of his pocket and held it out to her.  
  
"What?" She asked, surprised. She took the stone and felt her hormones abate.  
  
"Onyx." He said. "It suppresses sexual urges and guards against psychic attacks." He turned to Dr. Chandra. "Leave us." He said in a commanding voice. After Prisma left, he turned back to the girl.  
  
Ellen was staring into the heart of the black stone in her hand, a look of shock and horror frozen on her face. A tear slipped down her cheek.  
  
"I'm sorry, Lady Onyx." He said. "You and the other Crystal Guardians have suffered far too much." Ellen burst into tears.  
  
"Hush, now." He said. "There's work to be done."  
  
  
  
"Where do you think you're going with her!?!" Dr. Chandra yelled "I'm calling Security."  
  
"You won't, if you value their lives." Dr. Stone said coldly. Suddenly he was wearing gold, yellow, and white armor. He pulled his sword from its scabbard, and held it at Dr. Chandra's throat.  
  
"Please!" Ellen begged, her voice little more then a whisper. "No killing!" He looked at her tear-filled dark gray eyes and nodded. He lifted the sword and it flashed.  
  
When her sight cleared, Dr. Chandra was alone in the corridor.  
  
4:00 PM  
  
"Ellen Olsen and this man," A picture of Dr. Stone appeared on the screen. "Who may be going by the name of Dr. Solomon Stone are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous—" Sarah shut off the newscast.  
  
"What do you think, Sarah?" Luna asked.  
  
"It can't be the Negaverse." Sarah said.  
  
"And why do you think that?"  
  
"No casualties." Sarah shrugged. "No one had their energy drained. It's completely different then anything that they've ever done."  
  
"Making assumptions is very dangerous, Sarah." Luna said. "Especially in this case."  
  
"But what purpose could the Negaverse have for a mental patient?"  
  
"You need to pay more attention." Luna said. "Last year, Ellen Olsen killed her parents."  
  
"Yeah, I think I heard about that." Sarah said. "It's horrible, but what does that have to do with the Negaverse?"  
  
"Ellen used a psionic pulse to kill them."  
  
"A psionic pulse?" Sarah asked. "That's bad, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well," Sarah said, shutting down her computer and putting it in her computer bag. "I'm gonna go get an ice-cream cone."  
  
"What!?!" Luna shrieked. "At a time like this?"  
  
"Well it's not like I can do anything right now." Sarah said.  
  
"You should up your training." Luna said. "I have a feeling you and Amanda will be needed very soon."  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Sarah said. "But right now I'm going to have an ice-cream cone and then I'm going to go to Ruth's temple. Later!"  
  
"Some things never change!" Luna sighed, as she watched Sarah run off.  
  
  
  
Melani looked at the shattered remains of the crystal.  
  
'Hecate is not going to like this.' She thought, as she prepared to contact the crone.  
  
10/19/2030  
  
6:30 PM  
  
"Crescent BEAM!" Sailor V shouted, the monster dodged the blast. "Agh!" V shouted, in exasperation. So far she hadn't been able to hit the monster once! 'In fact,' Sailor V thought. 'I've caused almost as much damage as the monster has.' "Sailor V KICK!" Again the monster dodged. 'I've got to come up with a new tactic! I sure wish Artemis were here.' The monster backhanded her into a wall.  
  
V brushed at the blood seeping from a cut on her cheek. She charged the monster. It got ready to backhand her again. She vaulted over the monsters arm and landed on its shoulders. She wrapped her legs around its neck and prepared her attack.  
  
"Crescent BEAM!" She shouted again. The energy beam sliced through the monster's head. It disintegrated as Sailor V jumped back to the ground.  
  
Sailor V felt a hand on her shoulder, and suddenly she was flying back towards the wall.  
  
'Just great.' She thought, as she slammed into the wall again. Before she hit the ground she was choke-slammed against the wall, and found herself face to face with a woman with glowing red eyes.  
  
"Bet that hurt." The woman said shortly. She flicked one of her eyebrows up quickly, smiled maliciously, and then tossed Sailor V across the street onto a parked car. She jumped into the air and landed straddling Sailor V, then she dropped to her knees, grabbed V's wrists, and leaned forward until her face was just a couple inches from V's. "Slowly or quickly?"  
  
"W-What?" Sailor V stuttered.  
  
"I'm going to kill you." She said simply. "Slowly or quickly? Your choice."  
  
"Uh—!"  
  
"Well, since you can't make up your mind, I guess we'll just get started and see how it goes." She grabbed both of V's wrists in one hand, V screamed when one of the woman-monster's long, sharp nails dug into her left wrist. The woman-monster brought her free hand up to Sailor V's face, extending her nails until they were not even an inch away from V's eyes.  
  
"Stop right there!"  
  
"Eh?" The woman-monster said, looking towards the sound of the voice. "Who's there?" She snarled when she saw Sailor Moon.  
  
"I'm Sailor Moon, champion of Justice! And in the name of the Moon, I'll right wrongs and triumph over evil! And that means you."  
  
"May I make a suggestion?" The woman-monster asked.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Drop the speech, it's pathetic." The woman-monster flung her arm, which had been positioned over Sailor V's eyes, outwards, the long nails detached from her fingers, and sailed toward Sailor Moon.  
  
Sailor Moon screamed and dodged the razor sharp nails.  
  
'Calm down, Sarah!' she thought. 'You've been training for months now, you can handle this!'  
  
  
  
A/N: Yup, I'm leaving it on a cliffhanger! Aren't I evil? Don't worry, I'll probably put out the next chapter in the next day or two.  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 3; extra-special thanks to Lirial Raito, who e-mailed me the text version of the Sailor V Manga, and sorry to my imouto (pooka) for not recognizing her pen-name ^_^; (oopsie!).  
  
Pooka's writing a "Mononoke Hime" fic (Letters of Hope), which seems to be pretty good so far; go check it out! 


	7. Chapter 5

A/N: I meant to post this yesterday, but…  
  
Anyway, just so that no one gets confused, this is backing up to how Sarah ended up at the fight.  
  
  
  
Third Time Around  
  
Chapter 5  
  
10/19/2030  
  
6:25 PM  
  
Sarah was riding the bus back from the Cherry Hill Temple. Suddenly the bus driver slammed on the breaks.  
  
The bus driver opened the door and poked his head out.  
  
"Hey! What's going on up there!?!" he shouted at the people running through the street in a panicked mob.  
  
"It's an ODB attack!" someone shouted back.  
  
Sarah jumped out of her seat.  
  
"Excuse me?" she asked the bus driver. "Could you let me out here?"  
  
"Are you kidding me?" the bus driver asked.  
  
"I'm not very far from my house," Sarah said. "I'll just walk from here."  
  
"If you insist," the bus driver said, letting her go past him. "Be careful!" he called after her. 'Nutcase.'  
  
"Luna's going to have my head!" Sarah said to herself. Luna was adamant that Sarah shouldn't fight the monsters yet; she wanted her to train more first.  
  
"Whoa!" All the training had not prepared her for her first real life encounter with a monster.  
  
It was big.  
  
It was ugly.  
  
It was…fighting someone? Sarah couldn't quite see the other person from where she was, but she was reasonably sure that it was Amanda.  
  
"Sailor V KICK!" Sarah watched the monster dodge her sister's kick, then it knocked V into a wall. Sarah was about to call out her transformation phrase, when Sailor V got up and charged the monster. It was all over a second later.  
  
"Wow!" Sarah said. Then she noticed a woman approaching Sailor V. The woman threw her at the wall, charged, grabbed V by the throat, and slammed her against the wall. Then she threw Sailor V across the street onto a parked car. The monster jumped onto the car and stood over V.  
  
"Enough is enough!" Sarah said. "I've got to help her!"  
  
"Moon Prism Power, MAKE-UP!"  
  
~*~  
  
Alex sat at the desk in his apartment, typing on his computer. Suddenly he felt as though someone had grabbed hold of his heart. He fell out of his chair, gasping for breath. Somewhere, a soft melody played, and the young woman who had been in his dreams for as long as he could remember seemed to appear before him, beckoning.  
  
~Endymion!!!~  
  
~*~  
  
While he monster was distracted by Sailor Moon; Sailor V took the opportunity to kick it in the stomach. The monster was knocked off of the car.  
  
"Sailor V CHOP!" The monster barely dodged. "Crescent BEAM!" Again the monster dodged.  
  
"Moon Tiara, ACTION!" Sailor Moon threw her tiara, the monster jumped over it. The tiara reversed direction. The monster ducked it. Sailor Moon caught the tiara with a frown. " Hey! No fair!" She yelled at the monster.  
  
The monster turned back to Sailor V, and kicked her in the gut, V doubled over, gasping for breath. "See how you like it!" The woman-monster snapped, then she ran at Sailor Moon and threw a punch. Sailor Moon jumped back from it, but the monster's arm lengthened and the punch hit her in the jaw anyway. The monster grew some more super long nails and got ready to spear Sailor Moon with them.  
  
Suddenly a red rose imbedded itself in the ground at the woman-monster's feet. Sailor Moon stared at the rose stupidly as she got to her feet, then she turned and looked up. There was a man standing on the roof of the building behind her, he was dressed in a tuxedo, top hat, cape, and mask.  
  
"Well." The woman-monster said. "I seem to be outnumbered. Best to run to fight another day." She jumped across the street.  
  
"Hey!" Sailor Moon shouted.  
  
"I'm not finished with you yet!" Sailor V shouted.  
  
"Oh yes you are, Sailor V!" The monster replied. "You're next, Sailor Moon. Ciao!" The woman-monster jumped onto a roof and ran off.  
  
Sailor Moon looked back at the roof Tuxedo Mask had been standing on, but it was empty.  
  
"Hey, are you all right?" Sailor Moon asked, walking over to Sailor V. "That kick looked nasty!"  
  
"I think so." Sailor V said. "I'm more worried about my arm." She indicated her injured left wrist.  
  
"Here, take off your glove and let me see." Sailor Moon frowned when she saw how much blood was on the glove.  
  
"It's fine, Sarah, really," V said.  
  
"But, there's so much blood!" Sailor Moon argued.  
  
Suddenly they heard sirens.  
  
"We'd better go." Sailor V said.  
  
They found a secluded spot and de-transformed. Amanda looked at her injured wrist. The flesh around the wound was swollen and puffy, but at least the cut had almost stopped bleeding.  
  
Sarah made a hissing noise as she sucked air between her teeth.  
  
"That's got to hurt." Sarah said.  
  
"Yeah." Amanda pulled her sleeve over the cut as best she could.  
  
7:00 PM  
  
Tsukino Residence  
  
Sarah lightly touched the forming bruise on her jaw and winced. She was glad that they'd made it up to the bathroom without their mom seeing them. The last thing they needed was a replay of the other day. She started digging through one of the drawers.  
  
"I know it's in here." She muttered. "Ah! Here it is!" She pulled out a bottle of liquid concealer. She poured some out and applied it to the bruise.  
  
Meanwhile, Amanda rinsed her cut with warm water; she'd gotten a little dirt in it during the fight.  
  
"Here," Sarah said, rinsing the leftover concealer off her fingers. "Let me see."  
  
Amanda let Sarah see her wrist.  
  
"I was just going to put some Hydrogen Peroxide on it."  
  
"Man," Sarah said, looking at the swelling. "Good thing you've had your Tetanus shot." Sarah got the Peroxide out of the medicine cabinet. She had Amanda hold her hand out over the sink "This'll hurt." She warned. She poured some of the Peroxide over the wound. Amanda almost screamed, it hurt so much. Sarah gasped as the wound bubbled, and bits of greenish puss leaked out. "Gross." Sarah commented. "I'm getting mom."  
  
"No!" Amanda said. "We'd have to explain how I got hurt. I'll be fine, we'll just pour on some more Peroxide, and then we'll put some Aloe on it and bandage it."  
  
"Okay." Sarah said, uncertainly. "But if it gets worse I'm telling mom."  
  
  
  
"Ater, report." The crone, Hecate said.  
  
"The first Chaos Seed activated cleanly, and is in perfect condition." Ater said. "It faced off against both Sailor V and Sailor Moon, as well as a boy in a tuxedo."  
  
"I know this already, the Chaos Fiend turned tail and ran as soon as Tuxedo Mask showed up." Hecate glowered. "She did not complete her objective! She did not kill Sailor V!"  
  
"Oh, is that what you think?" Ater grinned. "You obviously don't know that her nails are poison tipped."  
  
Hecate looked at him, inquiringly.  
  
"As the Sailor Soldiers have much higher stamina and regenerative capabilities than normal people I don't know how long it will take before the poison will take effect, but it is almost sure to work. Sailor V will die!" 


	8. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm sorry this took so long! I'm getting to the point where I need to do a major rewrite (because the story slows down too much, and there are parts that don't work well). I've deleted a couple of scenes from this chapter, and more from the following ones; essentially, I've removed two entire subplots, and will probably remove more. It should only take a day or two for the next chapter to come out; I've just got my foot out of a cast, so I can't do much running around for a while.  
  
Third Time Around  
  
Chapter 6  
  
10/21/2030 7:00 AM  
  
Amanda dabbed some more peroxide on the cut. The skin wasn't swollen anymore, but the wound still oozed out greenish pus, and the muscles in her wrist and hand ached. The wound did seem to be getting better though.  
  
~*~  
  
3:30 PM  
  
"How's your wrist, Amanda?" Sarah asked.  
  
"A little sore, but it isn't swollen anymore." Amanda said.  
  
"Good." Sarah said. "So you'll be able to handle those monsters yourself?"  
  
"Luna still won't let you fight?" Amanda asked.  
  
"No, she says that I need more training, since I; and I quote: 'Barely handled the fight better than Serena.'" Sarah sighed. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." Amanda laughed.  
  
"Hey! Mandy! Rah-Rah!"  
  
"Hi, Kassni!" Sarah said. "Long time, no see!"  
  
"Yeah, well, you've managed to make yourself scarce, Rah-Rah." Kassni said. "But I imagine that you've been preparing for the nationals."  
  
"Oh! Gymnastics!" Sarah shouted, glancing at her watch. "I'm going to be late!!!" Sarah tore out of there like she had rabid dogs after her.  
  
"I'm on my way to the mall to meet Jen and Cat." Kassni said. "Want to come?"  
  
"Sure!"  
  
~*~  
  
4:00 PM  
  
"Krista! Get down here right now!"  
  
"I'm coming, mother!" Krista turned back to the mirror to make sure that her hair was perfect. She was seventeen with aquamarine eyes, and long, dark red hair, which she kept in a style similar to the one her Aunt Serena had worn, except that her hair was braided, instead of loose. Krista got up and walked out of her room, down the hall, and into the living room. "What?"  
  
"Do you have to wear that?" Mika asked, in the tone of someone who has had this conversation before, knows how it will end, and won't admit to herself that she had already lost this argument long before she opened her mouth.  
  
"What's wrong with it?" Krista asked venomously. Krista was wearing black leather pants, laced up on the sides, and what could only be described as a small piece of dark purple cloth, sewn into a tube-like shape with only faith and one spaghetti strap keeping it in position over her not- unimpressive breasts.  
  
"Can you at least put on a decent shirt?"  
  
"I'm going out." Krista said, brushing past her mother. "I won't be back for dinner." She stopped at the door and turned to face her mom, with her hand on the doorknob. "Tell everyone that I said that they can go to hell for all I care."  
  
Krista's dramatic exit was interrupted when the door opened, swinging inward and knocking Krista off balance. She fell on her butt.  
  
"Oh, sorry, Krista." Sam said, as he came in. "I didn't know you were there." He offered his daughter his hand, which she spitefully ignored, getting to her feet on her own.  
  
"I'll see you around." Krista said, as she left.  
  
"Another spat?" Sam asked his wife.  
  
"I got a letter from her teachers." Mika said. "She's been skipping school. I confronted her and it erupted into another shouting match, she locked herself in her room.  
  
"I don't know what to do, Sam." Mika continued. "I'm so worried about her!"  
  
"So am I." Sam said.  
  
~*~  
  
4:30 PM  
  
"What do you think?" Jenny asked, modeling a white dress with pale blue trimming.  
  
"Very nice." Cathy, a girl with amber-brown eyes and short, strawberry blonde hair, said.  
  
"You know," Jenny said, admiring herself in the mirror. "Online shopping's convenient and all, but I definitely prefer shopping at the mall."  
  
"I agree." Cathy said.  
  
"Me too." Amanda said, looking through one of the racks of clothing. "Sure, you can sort of see what clothing will look like on you when you're online, but you don't know if you'll like the texture of the fabric, or if the cut will be exactly right. You can get a dress that looks great, but until you try it on, you don't know if the seams are in weird places or something."  
  
"I hate it when that happens!" Cathy said. Amanda decided that she didn't like Cathy much; she just went around agreeing with everyone.  
  
~*~  
  
A short time later, Amanda and her friends were strolling through the mall with their purchases, when there was the sound of an explosion outside.  
  
"What was that!?!" Cathy asked. Suddenly, the remains of a car came crashing through the wall behind them.  
  
"Oh my God!" Jenny yelled.  
  
"We'd better get out of here!" Kassni said. They ran.  
  
Amanda intentionally lost her friends in the crowd, and looked for someplace to transform. She went into the ladies room and checked to make sure there was no one else there.  
  
"Moon Power, TRANSFORM!" She shouted.  
  
~*~  
  
The Chaos Fiend enthusiastically made a mess of things, hoping that Sailor Moon would show up soon so that she could have some real fun.  
  
"I was looking forward to a rematch!" The Chaos Fiend turned toward the sound of the voice and looked visibly disappointed when she saw who it was.  
  
"Oh, it's you." She said, tiredly. "Aren't you dead yet?"  
  
"Sailor V KICK!" She kicked at the monster, who dodged.  
  
"I don't feel like fighting you." The Chaos Fiend yawned. "Why don't you go call your little friend, Sailor Moon?"  
  
"Sorry, she's grounded." Sailor V said. "You'll just have to make do with me."  
  
"Oh, well if that's how it is," The monster-woman sighed. "Then I'm leaving." The monster turned and walked right back out the hole she'd made in the wall.  
  
"Hey! Wait!" Sailor V ran after her, but the monster was gone. 


	9. Chapter 7

A/N: This didn't take long, I only needed to take out one scene and change a paragraph, but later chapters will probably involve more complicated changes.  
  
Revision: Ick! I made a mistake! I doubt you'd even notice what I changed, but it _is_ important later in the story.  
  
If you think you _do_ know what I changed, send me an e-mail (do NOT write it in a review) and, if you're right, I'll draw you a picture of what/whomever you want (within my capabilities) and e-mail it to you.  
  
Third Time Around Chapter 7  
  
  
  
Amanda walked home, thinking about the fight, or lack thereof.  
  
~"Aren't you dead yet?"  
  
Amanda pulled her sleeve up and unwrapped her bandage. The wound was almost gone. She flexed her wrist and winced slightly as the muscles in her wrist and hand cramped. She kneaded the sore muscles until they relaxed, then she noticed that the skin around the cut was greenish.  
  
'You're being silly, Amanda.' She chided herself. 'The skin's just bruised.' But though the day was warm, Amanda shivered.  
  
===  
  
"Please, Lady Garnet." The Princess said. "I am fine."  
  
"Onyx could not absorb the entire attack this time, Princess," Lady Garnet said. "Queen Serenity wants Lady Citrine to make sure there is no damage to your mind."  
  
"Very well." The princess sighed. She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.  
  
"Relax, Princess." A yellow clad girl said. She closed her eyes. "Open your mind to me." The blonde telepath carefully scanned the Princess' mind. After awhile she opened her eyes.  
  
"Anything?" Garnet asked.  
  
"The attack weakened her psychic defenses," Citrine replied. "But other than that, she's fine. I commanded her to sleep."  
  
"Lady Citrine, tell Lady Amethyst, Lady Lapis, and Lady Onyx to stay on guard," Garnet said. "The entity probably knows that it has weakened the Princess' defenses and will attack again, soon."  
  
===  
  
10/21/2030 4:30 PM Training Grounds  
  
"I don't know," Sailor V said. "Something about the way she acted bothered me."  
  
"She's a monster, Amanda." Sailor Moon said. "Her very existence should bother you."  
  
"She just acted like I didn't matter," Sailor V said. "Like it wasn't worth the effort to fight me."  
  
"And she specifically asked for Sailor Moon?" Luna asked.  
  
"Yes." Sailor V said.  
  
"I don't like this at all." Luna said.  
  
"How's your wrist?" Sailor Moon asked.  
  
"Sore, but otherwise fine."  
  
"Ann and Alan say that they're ready." Artemis said, running up to them. "It's your turn Sailor V."  
  
"Who are Ann and Alan anyway?" V asked.  
  
"Oh, they used to be enemies of the Sailor Soldiers." Artemis said.  
  
"Uh-huh." Sailor Moon said. "And exactly why is it a good idea for them to be training us?"  
  
"The Sailor Soldiers helped us see the error of our ways." Alan said, as he and Ann appeared behind them.  
  
"They taught us what friendship and love are." Ann agreed. "And since they're.gone now, this seemed like the best way to repay them."  
  
"Um, yeah." Sailor V said, uncomfortably. "I'd better go do the course."  
  
~*~  
  
"Anything?"  
  
"No, My Lord, I am sorry, but without the other Crystal Guardians there's no way that I can locate the Moon Princess unless I saw her."  
  
"That is understandable, Lady Onyx," the Prince said.  
  
9:00 PM  
  
"Julie!"  
  
"Hey, mom!" The violet haired girl said stumbling through the living room.  
  
"Good God!" Julie's mom exclaimed, getting out of her chair. "You're drunk again, aren't you?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, like you care!" Julie said. "Jus' sit 'round an' fake out that there's nothin' the matter like y' always do! Go t' yer parties an' forget I exist!"  
  
"Hey! What's going on out here?" A girl with dark, purplish hair came out into the living room. "Oh, Julie! How could you do this?"  
  
"Cut the patronizing tone, Celeste." Julie muttered, stumbling over to the couch. "Yer not the big sister here."  
  
"Oh yeah! Like you're a great role model." Celeste grabbed her sister's arm and dragged her out of the living room. "Come on, Julie, I want to talk to mom."  
  
"Leggo!" Julie punched at her sister with her other arm. Celeste grabbed Julie's fist as it came at her.  
  
"Go to bed, Julie." Celeste said. She let go of her sister and pushed her towards her room. Julie grumbled to herself as she went into her room.  
  
"Thank you, Celeste."  
  
"Mom, we need to talk." Celeste sat down next to her mom.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Look, I know you're having a hard time with Julie, but I can't be the mom with her while you tend to your social life."  
  
"What are you talking about, Celeste?"  
  
"I called Grandma, and I asked if I can stay with her in Juuban for the rest of the school year." Celeste said. "She said she'd love to have me if you say it's okay."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"Mom! I'm getting totally stressed out! I can't keep being the responsible one in this family, I'm only fourteen!"  
  
"I didn't ask for any of this, Celeste, I didn't want to be a mother at thirteen!"  
  
"Grow up, mom!" Celeste shouted. "You're not thirteen anymore, you're thirty! And if you weren't asking for it then why did you go get pregnant with me after you had Julie!?! You shouldn't be complaining. If I leave you'll have one less kid to take care of. I love you mom, but you're going to have to deal with Julie on your own, because one way or the other, I'm not going to be responsible for her anymore.  
  
"I'm going to bed."  
  
10/22/2030 4:00  
  
"Okay, now you're just getting on my nerves." The Chaos Fiend said, glaring at Sailor V.  
  
Sailor V jumped to the side to avoid a barrage of the Fiend's nails.  
  
  
  
Sarah hid behind some trees in the park and watched the fight.  
  
"What if the monster's too much for her to handle?" Sarah asked Luna. "She didn't do too well last time."  
  
"She should be fine as long as the monster doesn't gain the upper hand." Luna said.  
  
"Somehow that's not very comforting, Luna."  
  
~*~  
  
The Chaos Fiend paused for a second, pressing the fingers of her left hand together, the nails began to grow and twist together to form a long spike. Sailor V took the opportunity to launch an attack of her own.  
  
"Crescent Slender BEAM!"  
  
The monster leaped high into the air, avoiding the attack, and coming down almost on top of V. She stabbed at Sailor V with the spike. Sailor V jumped to the side instead of back, remembering that the monster could extend her reach.  
  
'She's gotten more powerful.' V thought, as she jumped over another of the monster-woman's thrusts.  
  
Suddenly the monster grabbed Sailor V's ankle and threw her across the park, onto a jungle gym. Then she jumped up into the air and landed just beside her. The monster grabbed V's throat, cutting off her air supply, then she leaned down until her face was just an inch away from V's.  
  
"I've won, Sailor V." The Chaos Fiend said softly. "I don't even have to kill you right now; and you, being such a virtuous warrior, can't kill me, because if you do, you will kill the innocent human I'm using as my host. You want to know why I don't want to fight you?" She let go of Sailor V's throat. V coughed and gasped in air. "You see, you are dead already," The Fiend roughly kissed V on the lips. "And no amount of fighting is ever going to change that." The Fiend jumped up into the air, a black portal opened around her, and she disappeared into it.  
  
Sailor V slid off the jungle gym in a daze. She was trying to figure out what the Chaos Fiend had been talking about.  
  
"Sailor V, are you alright?" Sarah ran over to her sister. "Oh, you don't look so good, Amanda."  
  
"I'm fine, Sarah." V said. She looked around to make sure there was no one in the park and then de-transformed. "Let's go home, I need to rest."  
  
10/23/2030 1:00 PM  
  
"Hi, Grandma!" Celeste said, when her grandmother greeted her at the airport. Her grandmother was a striking woman with dark violet hair, who looked much younger than her fifty-five years.  
  
"Celeste, dear, how many times must I tell you," The woman said. "Please don't call me Grandma, call me Catsy!"  
  
A/N: Sorry, it's going to be a while for the next chapter, I think; I have to rearrange some scenes. 


	10. Chapter 8

Third Time Around Chapter 8  
  
10/23/2030 4:15 PM  
  
"All settled in?" Catsy asked.  
  
"Uh-huh." Celeste answered. "I'm ready to start school tomorrow."  
  
"Great!" Catsy enthused. "I'm going to go visit a some friends of mine, would you like to come?"  
  
"Um."  
  
"If you're worried that it's going to be a couple of old farts sitting around drinking tea and talking about old times, don't be." Catsy laughed. "Chad and Carol have a daughter about your age, and I'm sure you'll love the temple."  
  
5:00 PM  
  
"Hello, Chad!"  
  
"Oh, Catsy, hi!"  
  
"Good afternoon, Catsy!" Ruth called, as she ran up the temple steps with Sarah in tow.  
  
"Hello, Ruth, Sarah." Catsy greeted them "This is my Granddaughter, Celeste."  
  
"You have a granddaughter?" Sarah said, surprised. Catsy laughed.  
  
"Celeste, this is Chad's daughter, Ruth, and her friend, Sarah Tsukino."  
  
"Oh, I've heard of you two." Celeste said. "You're those gymnasts."  
  
"Yep, we're those gymnasts." Sarah agreed. "Come on, Ruth said that her mom made some cookies yesterday and we're going to go get some." The three girls rushed into the house.  
  
10/24/2030 4:00  
  
The golden haired men walked down the street with Lady Onyx beside him.  
  
"You are sure about this?" Onyx asked.  
  
"Yes." He said, looking at his wristband. "Here it is." They stopped and looked across the street at the High School building.  
  
~*~  
  
"I'm very disappointed in you, Julie."  
  
"I know, mom."  
  
"Did you listen to what the Principal said?"  
  
"Yes, mom."  
  
"You'd better get cleaned up if you don't want to be expelled."  
  
"Shut up, mom."  
  
"Julie!"  
  
"Lady Amethyst." The Prince stood in the hallway in his armor, Lady Onyx was close behind him, dressed in her black dress and cloak.  
  
"Who's this nut job?" Julie asked. Onyx walked forward and handed Julie an amethyst crystal. Julie stared into the heart of the crystal, and became entranced.  
  
"It's okay, Lady Amethyst." Onyx said softly. "You'll feel so much better once the reversal is undone." Julie looked up with a gasp. She turned to her mother with tear-filled eyes.  
  
"Oh, mother," Julie grabbed her mother in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry."  
  
"Are you ready, Lady Amethyst?" The Prince asked. Julie nodded.  
  
"Good-bye, mother." Julie let go of her mother and turned, her clothes blurred, and then she was standing a violet gown with a deep purple cape. There was a flash of light, and Nikki Chandra was alone in the hallway.  
  
4:30 PM  
  
"I obviously can't handle her on my own." Amanda said, sitting on a park bench with Sarah and the cats. "Hell, I don't even know if Sarah and I could handle her together, if what she said is true."  
  
"Did you ever have do deal with people being possessed like that before?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Yes." Luna said.  
  
"So how did you handle it?" Sarah asked. "The Stardust attack only works on brainwashing, right? So did you kill the hosts?"  
  
"Certainly not!" Luna said. "We had weapons and attacks suited to that."  
  
"Do you still have them?" Amanda asked.  
  
"Yes." Luna said. "But we didn't use it until we had Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. Besides, I don't even know if Sarah's strong enough to use the Crescent Moon Wand yet."  
  
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Amanda asked.  
  
"I suppose the only thing to do is use the Wand." Luna sighed. "This goes against my better judgement, but, Sarah, you can fight this time. But only this time, unless more monsters like that show up."  
  
5:30 PM  
  
Catsy picked up the ringing phone.  
  
"Hello? Nikki? Whoa, whoa, calm down dear!"  
  
"What's wrong?" Celeste asked, coming out of the kitchen.  
  
"Nikki, please calm down and tell me what happened!" Celeste looked panicked and dove for the phone in the kitchen.  
  
"Mom! What's going on?"  
  
"Julie's been kidnapped!" Nikki said, over the phone.  
  
6:00 PM  
  
"What are you watching, mom?" Sarah asked, sitting down on the sofa next to her mom and putting down her computer bag.  
  
"Some poor girl's been kidnapped." Mika said. "She was taken at school, right in front of her mother! They think it was that doctor and that terrible Olsen girl."  
  
"Um, I have to go, mom." Sarah said, grabbing her computer bag again. "I forgot, Amanda asked me to meet her at the mall." Sarah ran out of the living room, out the front door, and straight into Alex.  
  
"Do you need glasses, or just a new set of brake pads?" Alex asked, getting up and dusting himself off. "Honestly, meatball head, it wouldn't hurt you to look where you're going!"  
  
"Do you spend all day thinking of those insults, Mr. Black?" Sarah asked. Jumping up hastily and almost falling down again. "And don't call me meatball head!" She pointed at her short hair. "Do you see any buns there? I cut them off so you'd quit making fun of me!  
  
"Why don't you just avoid my house? It would probably cut down on the number of times I hit you with something!" And with that she turned and stalked off.  
  
"I can't help myself." Alex said. "You're just too cute when you're angry."  
  
Sarah stopped dead in her tracks; gaping, she turned and stared. No _way_ had she just heard that! Alex gave her a "What are you looking at?" look. Sarah turned and continued on her way. Even if she had heard it, he probably just meant "little girl" cute.  
  
6:30 PM  
  
"They even have a security video, the images are all static-y though." Sarah said, playing the video file. "They might have a disguise field like Amanda and I do."  
  
"Security video?" Luna asked. "At a school?"  
  
"You remember, Luna." Artemis said. "With all the shootings at schools in America, schools around the world started to take more precautions, they even have psychological evaluations before school starts, in the middle of the year, and after graduation."  
  
"Things sure have changed." Luna sighed.  
  
"That's the weirdest armor I've ever seen!" Amanda commented. "What time period is that supposed to be?"  
  
"Silver Millennium." Luna said.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Worn by royalty." Luna said. "But I don't remember this specific design."  
  
"So then, he's from the Moon?"  
  
"Not likely." Luna said. "The Moon Kingdom's colors were silver, gold, and white. Each kingdom had its own colors. Earth's were silver, red, and black, Mars was red, violet, and copper, Mercury was light blue, blue, and silver, Venus was orange, dark blue, and gold, and Jupiter was green, pink, and bronze. You get the idea. But I don't remember this one."  
  
"What about what the girls are wearing?" Sarah asked, playing the file again. "Is that Silver Millennium too?"  
  
"Yes, it's similar to what ladies-in-waiting wore," Artemis said. "But less ornate and it seems more.commanding. I'd say that whoever they were, they were very important."  
  
"Something's nagging at me; they do look familiar," Luna said.  
  
"Well they should." Sarah said. "The kidnapped girl's mother identified them as Dr. Solomon Stone and Ellen Olsen. And the girl that they took was Julie Chandra; I met her sister, Celeste, she's staying with her grandmother, Catsy Chandra, who is a friend of Ruth's father, and she's Jenny's half-brother's aunt."  
  
"She's Catsy's granddaughter?"  
  
"Yeah, that's what I thought too, Catsy's just _way_ too young to have grandkids my age." Sarah stopped, as what Luna had just said sunk in. "Wait a minute! _You_ know _Catsy_?"  
  
"Yeah, sure." Artemis said. "Old enemy of the Sailor Soldiers."  
  
"Oh, that again." Amanda rolled her eyes. She took the computer away from Sarah.  
  
"So, back to the business at hand." Luna said. "Why would this man, who seems to have some connection to the Silver Millennium, kidnap two girls, one who is a telepathic, psychotic killer, and the other who seems to be completely normal-"  
  
"Actually," Amanda put in. "According to her school records, she's an alcoholic; that's why she was at the school, she and her mom had a talk with the principal and Julie's councilor. She's also diagnosed as a manic depressive."  
  
"You hacked the school computers?" Sarah asked, shocked. "Where did you learn to do that?"  
  
"Nal Granger taught me."  
  
"But they have no known connection to each other." Luna said.  
  
"Hey, wait a minute." Sarah said. Taking the computer back from Amanda. "Wasn't the head psychiatrist at the mental institution's last name Chandra? Prissy Chandra or something like that."  
  
"Prisma Chandra?" Artemis asked.  
  
"Yeah, that's it." Sarah said. "She's Catsy's sister, right?"  
  
"Right." Luna said. "So we have a connection to two of the Black Moon sisters. I wonder where Birdy and Avery are?"  
  
"Well, if Birdy is Zeke's mom, then she died in childbirth." Sarah said. "'Black Moon sisters'?" she asked, as an after thought  
  
"We'll tell you about it someday." Artemis said.  
  
"It's probably coincidental." Luna said. "But we should find out where Avery is, just as a precaution." She sighed "I wish I knew what was going on here! I'm beginning to suspect that the holes in our memories were intentional!"  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
"Why didn't you just kill her?" Ater asked the Chaos Fiend.  
  
"_That_ wouldn't be sporting." The Fiend said. "She's dead meat anyway."  
  
"We want her out of the way." Ater said. "We _need_ her out of the way if we're to proceed. You _can_ be replaced, Bracken."  
  
"Don't you trust me?" Bracken smiled maliciously.  
  
"Trust is a weakness." Ater said. "One which can be exploited; one which none of us can afford to have."  
  
A/N: This'll probably be the last chapter for a while; turns out that I have to completely rewrite/restructure everything from this point on -_-; I am sooooo not looking forward to this. Basically, everything's been dragging pretty badly the last couple of chapters, and it only gets worse from here; I have this tendency to develop some areas of plot out of synch with the others...  
  
For example, Bracken has been around since chapter 4, which is really only five days if you've been paying attention to the dates, but by Sailor Moon standards she's been around too long; she's not a General after all. I don't intend to change what I've posted thus far, but I'm essentially dumping everything that comes after this. Also there was an additional plotline that I had meant to introduce earlier in the story but couldn't find a way to work in; the next chapter will get rid of Bracken and introduce this other plotline (lessee, I have...anou...about six plotlines now). 


End file.
